There are many functions that Google Maps has and that we can take advantage of on a day-to-day basis. However, if we want to explore curiosities you have to turn to others. If only a few days ago we knew a map with which to learn history, today we know one that delves deeper into our own history.
Specifically, there is a map of surnames that allows us to obtain interesting information about their origin. You may even be able to locate where relatives you don’t know live. And if you have a “rare” last name, all the better.
From the widespread ‘García’ to the rare ‘Toro Bravo’
The so-called “surname map” is fully accessible from the mobile. On Android they have an app on Google Play, although in our experience works better via web, so we must use the browser, either on the aforementioned Android phones or on an iPhone. You just have to enter mapadepellidos.eu.
Examples with ‘García’ as a widespread surname and ‘Toro Bravo’ as a less localized surname
Once we enter we must scroll slightly down to find a map of Spain with a search engine in the upper left. In this search box, as you can imagine by now, you must write your last name. Yes indeed, write it without accents even if it does, since the system does not accept surnames that have a tilde and results in a very large text in red that reads “UNLOCABLE SURNAME”.
According to the legend of the map located in the lower right corner, we can see in circles of different sizes the number of towns in which people with that last name reside. In addition, specific information is given on the number of localities in which it is present. Similarly, if we look at the bottom, we can find other relevant information about the last name.
Now, that “according to this website” is not accidental and it is that your database is somewhat inaccurate. As they themselves point out, the project is inspired by a similar tool made in Italy. And their database is drawn from 1990s phone books, which are pretty much dead these days.
Thus, the rise of mobile telephony and the increasingly notorious lack of fixed telephones and guides that collect them, ultimately mean that in this database current data is not considered. Which in the end does not detract from the proposal if what we want is to know the origin of a surname. And it is that, although there is no general rule for it, wherever more inhabitants appear with that denomination, it is understood that it is the place where it originated.
Nevertheless, there is an alternative to have more updated data. And everything happens through the website of the INE (National Institute of Statistics). In it we can do a search for names and surnames according to the census of each Spanish town. And yes, it is also accessible from any mobile.
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